Andre Villas-Boas: Chelsea start has been 'okay' but competition is tough

06 October 2011 02:28

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Andre Villas-Boas is satisfied with Chelsea's start to the season but admits that the Barclays Premier League is a tougher competition now than back when he was Jose Mourinho's assistant.

The Portuguese has guided the Blues to third in the table after seven games - three points behind leaders Manchester United - but conceded that position is at least what would be expected of him by Roman Abramovich.

Villas-Boas, at 33 younger than some of his players, also admitted that the 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford was the low point of his return to English football so far.

Tough at the top: Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas (right)

'I think things have been going okay. We had a good start up to the Old Trafford game where we had a good performance but were unlucky with the result,' Villas-Boas said.

'Bearing in mind the performance, normally with so many opportunities you come away with a win but it didn't go for us in the first half in terms of efficiency and the scoreline was difficult to recover at half-time.

'We are doing nothing else than what we need to do. We are expected to win every game and that's the challenge that we have. Some results have gone our way a little bit better and others haven't.'

Frankly speaking: Chelsea are meeting expectations in the Premier League

Villas-Boas said that life is tougher these days than during Mourinho's spell from 2004-07 because Chelsea now face competition from more than just the other members of the traditional 'Big Four' of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

'The main difference from a couple of years ago is that there are much more teams competing for the Premier League title, and more teams are also competing for the Champions League spots,' he said.

'I think money has a part to play, a lot of new players have come across for various teams.

'Tottenham look different from before, Liverpool the same, Stoke City will be a threat for the European places and Newcastle are back on top form.'

Bad memories: The low point of the season so far was the defeat at Old Trafford

But despite the increased competition, Villas-Boas also has no doubts that Chelsea will remain a force to be reckoned with in future.

'We have evolved in the different departments,' he said. 'The most important thing for us is to make the necessary judgements for the things that we need.

'We made a couple of changes to a couple of staff to satisfy our needs. Not that the ones before were not competent - just that it's important for us to have everything at our disposal that we like - so we made changes to the medical department and a couple of structures at the club.

'The club has evolved naturally to an even more powerful club, a more powerful brand commercially, and is on the right track.'